“This Isn’t Just Bitcoin Anymore,” It’s Digital Assets Creating an Ecosystem of New Opportunities, says Head of BofA Global Research

Bank of America has finally launched coverage of cryptocurrencies due to “growing institutional interest” and the massive appetite among retail clients.

Candace Browning, head of global research at BofA Securities, shared in an interview with Bloomberg that the number of corporates mentioning crypto on their earnings calls has increased to about 147 in the most recent quarter, from merely 17 in the last year.

“This isn’t just Bitcoin anymore, this is digital assets and it’s creating a whole ecosystem of new companies, new opportunities, and new applications.”

The bank has published its first research coverage focused on crypto titled “Digital Assets: Only the first inning” while noting that the industry has grown to over $2 trillion with more than $200 million users. The “digital asset universe is too large to ignore” now.

BofA’s cryptocurrency research coverage for which the team was appointed in July is headed by former tech analyst Alkesh Shah, the bank said.

“This is growing, this is mainstream, and it’s not just Bitcoin.”

In other news, Inuit Inc., the maker of QuickBooks and TurboTax software which recently acquired privately held email marketing firm Mailchimp for $12 billion, has launched a new venture arm to invest in emerging financial technology, including crypto.

Talking about crypto’s role in Intuit’s future and just how excited the company is about the nascent asset class, Sasan Goodarzi, CEO of Intuit, told Bloomberg that “It's important to intentionally place your bets on the future.”

He believes betting on emerging, and unproven trends is important because some will work and some won’t. Also, it gives an opportunity to pick great talent, he added.

“We believe crypto and blockchain will play an important role,” said Goodarzi, noting they are all about making sure that everything that they do is about making customers manage their cash flow, only to add, “but they (crypto) are going to play an important role.”